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William Friedkin May Re-Team with Writer William Peter Blatty

The one and only time they collaborated, director William Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty delivered the classic horror film The Exorcist. So it goes without saying that another collaboration between the duo would be an absolute treat. Therefore, it's my pleasure to point out the news from Rue Morgue Mag (via ShockTillYouDrop) that Blatty himself said Friedkin is interested in adapting the author's most recent novelDimiter which was just published this past March. Blatty describes the novel as, "a supernatural suspense thriller set mostly in Jerusalem," adding that, "Billy Friedkin is eager to direct it as a film."

Here's a more detailed description of the story straight from the publisher Forge Books:

In 1973 Albania, Colonel Vlora (aka the Interrogator), the head of a team of torturers, questions the Prisoner, who the reader later learns is Paul Dimiter, an American clandestine agent referred to in some quarters of the world as 'legendary,' while in others as 'the agent from hell.' (Rumor has it Dimiter poisoned Ho Chi Minh while the Vietnamese leader was visiting Albania shortly before his death in 1969.) Dimiter escapes to Jerusalem, where he encounters a number of engaging characters, including a doctor of neurology, a sharp-tongued nurse, and a grief-stricken Israeli policeman. The complicated plot confounds until the isolated pieces of the psychological puzzle that's Dimiter match up and fall into place, revealing surprising truths.

There couldn't be a better time for this news considering The Exorcist was just released for the first time on Blu-Ray. As a writer Blatty has most stuck to films in The Exorcist series of films as well as The Great Train Robbery. William Friedkin already has the dark comedy Killer Joe in the works starring Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch, so an adaptation of Dimiter is unlikely to happen immediately. However, Blatty is willing and Friedkin has the urge, then we'll likely see the adaptation sometime in the future. Sound good?